The usual dappled specks of sunlight swayed gently to the ground in the Deku Tree's forest. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a fairy was screaming at the top of their lungs, cutting through the usual peace of the woods.
Tiny wings hummed, flapping as fast as they possibly could. His path was erratic and zigzagged up and down and around the trees, wherever looked safer next. Something large behind him thudded from tree to tree. The treetops shook and the light specks danced. The thing hit a tree trunk and shot itself towards another, and another, and another and another, dull thuds like a war drum pounding after the tiny yellow ball of light.
A blade tore through air. The fairy cried out, though it missed by a foot, and tried desperately to fly faster.
The gaps between the trees started to widen, the specks of sun growing larger. Something that wasn't more trees became visible beyond.
Outside! That meant he was heading outside! Ordinarily any thought of Outside filled him with fear. He had never been out of the forest. Right now, though, whatever was chasing him was scarier. They would take him away like the others… It was jumping between the trees. If he got away from the forest, it might stop!
His path changed from zigzags to a straight, focused shot. The thuds became slightly slower as the trees got farther apart. The miniscule heart in the fairy's chest raced.
The canopy of leaves ended just ahead, to a field of sunlight. Just a little farther…!
The thing behind him fell behind, its sounds fading. And the fairy shot out of the trees, into the blinding sunlight. All around was open space, the field of green grass making waves whenever a breeze came by. A dirt path snaked to a cluster of wooden, boxy structures, like large trees but in cube form. He had no idea what those were.
He listened for a second.
The thuds had stopped! He was safe!
"Y-Yes!" He laughed with relief, bobbing up and down in midair. "I did it! I did-"
The victory shout died in his teeny tiny throat. A masked being with a sickle had jumped down and was running at him from the trees.
The fairy screamed again and fled for what he didn't know was a town.
The yard of a house in the eastern outskirts of Castle Town was in complete disarray. A meat-drying rack had been knocked to the ground. Ashes and soot from a thankfully extinguished fire pit had been stepped in, kicked around, and tracked everywhere. A laundry line had snapped, leaving a kite trail of formerly clean clothes lying in the dirt and covered in smeared sooty footprints. Half the fence around a cucco coop by the house lay cracked on the ground. Every resident of the coop was squawking their loudest, wound up by the excitement that had just ended.
A mobian was on the ground, catching his breath, a struggling cucco pinned under his arms. He stood up with some difficulty, partially because of a heavy traveler's pack on his back and partially because the bird was doing its best to escape. His off-white tunic, edged in vibrant green with a winged pattern on the chest, swayed as he walked. His worn brown boots were covered in ashes, dust, and mud.
Shadow glanced around at the devastation, and sighed. Great. He had underestimated a cucco, and now he was going to be yelled at. Probably not paid, either.The cucco swiveled its head and started to peck at one of the wooden rings around his wrists.
He limped over to a human woman waiting just outside the radius of disaster, the short sword at his hip bouncing. He had to look up quite a bit to speak to her. "Caught it…"
He'd been thinking of her as The Chicken Lady. She surveyed the damage, her eyes lingering on the coop. The Chicken Lady was a larger woman with untidy red hair and a beaked nose, looking a lot like a cucco herself.
"Really!" She huffed. "You couldn't have done that more carefully!?" He'd been about to grudgingly agree when she kept going. "The other cuccos are all upset now! Listen to them!" She scolded, hands on her hips. "You've terrified my poor babies!"
Shadow blinked. That was what she worried about?
"…I could fix some of the damage."
"I don't care about that. That's just stuff." She waved it away impatiently. "These birds are my livelihood! My life, in fact! They give us eggs, meat, and love! No bird is as gentle and sensitive as the cucco!"
The cucco in his arms had worked out that the wood wasn't a part of Shadow's body, and instead started to peck at his brown leather glove.
"Right," Shadow said flatly, watching it try to hurt his hand and/or eat leather.
"You just don't understand how easy it is to damage their delicate psyches," she went on, shaking her head at his ignorance. "It affects their egg-laying. Poor Bridgette must be traumatized! I really don't think you deserve the reward."
There it is. Assume the worst, and you'll never be disappointed. More specifically, always assume that anyone yelling 'A thousand rupees for whoever finds my prized cucco!' is at best exaggerating.
"If you insist," he said dryly. "I can always sleep under a tree again."
"A little outdoors never hurt anybody," she said defensively. Chicken Lady leaned over, her arms out. "Give her to me. She needs me to put her in the coop."
Shadow surrendered the cucco with no reluctance whatsoever. The woman wrapped her vast, loving arms around the struggling bird.
"Shh, it's okay, baby..." she cooed, shifting the cucco into the crook of one elbow and giving it a pat. "Momma's here."
The bird did not seem to hear 'Momma', but was pinned by her meaty arm and really couldn't do anything to her.
Chicken Lady looked back down at Shadow. Her voice became significantly less affectionate. "You're still here?"
He met her eyes evenly, arms crossed, not saying anything.
"…Alright, fine." She surrendered with a huff. "You did catch her. I suppose even with your insensitivity you deserve something."
Chicken Lady dug into her pocket, drew a closed fist out, and pressed it into the hand he'd raised. "There. Now get going," she said, making a 'shoo' motion with her hand. "I have to make sure my babies relax."
"You're welcome."
Then Shadow turned to go, with a last glimpse of the woman flouncing away. He glanced around briefly to judge direction. Castle Town, as a former trade hub, had a lot of old roads connected to it. He picked one, a dusty road to the south, then started a trudge down it.
He opened his hand as he walked. A blue rupee glinted in his palm. Five. Well, fine... It was better than nothing.
He slid it in his pocket as he left Castle Town, not looking back. His visit had been almost a complete waste of time: an overall 12 rupee loss, and not a soul there had seen him before. Only the 'Look at my wares!' merchants had really been keen on noticing him.
Them and the 'Help me! 'people. The ones who wanted something found or killed that they couldn't, or didn't want to, manage themselves. He swore some people did nothing but wait for help to show up. Shadow kept intending to say no, and he did, but they always kept pushing. Please, please, please help? For a reward? Then, his conscience and need for money would both yell at him, and he went after cuccos and bandits and lost heirlooms and whatever else people could think of. The money wasn't great, but it was enough to get by.
Unfortunately, the killing part of this had gotten easier the more he had done it.
A distant high-pitched scream made him flinch and reach for his sword. The sound got louder as a ball of light zoomed at him, and a screaming orb hit him in the forehead.
"Dnh-!" Shadow went back a step. It hit hard enough to hurt. What the hell had that been, an insect? He plucked the small, warm thing off his head.
It wasn't a bug. A tiny Mobian with a canary-yellow glow dangled, dazed and limp, from a thin dragonfly-like wing. The glow, somehow, clearly defined their features instead of obscuring them. Even odder, size difference aside, the tiny being looked almost exactly like him, but dark gray with bright yellow streaks.
The little being came to, wings fluttering, and glanced around, growing more and more alarmed. Shadow let them go. Instead of fleeing, they looked him up and down, saw the sword and armor, and in a squeaky voice said the horrible, familiar words.
"Please, help me!"
Then the thundering footsteps came and it became clear what exactly he was supposed to be helping with. Someone almost too tall to be human was running towards them, hunched over like an ape. The reddish armor, matching the color of the symbol on their eyeless mask, was thin and close to their skin, made for movement. They drew closer and slowed, raising themselves to their full height. They held a scythe in their hand, and the wicked blade gleamed over the hedgehog's head.
The fairy squeaked and fluttered behind Shadow's back.
Shadow hadn't moved an inch. He looked up at the being like he had to do with any human, one brow raised. "And what do you want?"
Mask paused, weapon stopped high in the air. The painted eye on their masked face stared at him. Most potential victims screamed or ran or showed some kind of fear, not asked them to clarify why exactly they were threateningly waving sharp things around. They lowered the scythe and almost politely pointed behind Shadow with it, where the fairy had gone.
Shadow's short sword slid from its sheath, gripped in his left hand. "No."
Mask cocked their head, let out a oddly high-pitched laugh, and swung the sickle down.
It swished through air as Shadow threw himself sideways. The fairy cried out and fluttered backwards. His sword arced into Mask's outstretched arm, hard enough to leave a notch like an axe into a tree that bled. Mask made a pained sound. Shadow slid one foot back as they recovered and jumped at them, higher than any human could. The scythe raised to react, but a deceptively thin arm hooked around Mask's neck and squeezed. Shadow walked up their chest to climb them and get upright, and held the sword to their throat.
"Give it up and leave." Shadow just slightly jabbed the sword. "Or this gets closer."
Mask made a choked, fearful kind of noise, raising their arms in the air.
Shadow let it linger there a moment more for emphasis before he let go, pushing off the being with his feet. Mask stumbled back with the push, rather meekly allowing it to happen. The wind was taken out of their sails; so much so that the wind was going the opposite direction and taking them away with it.
Shadow landed on his feet almost before the strangely tall being fled. He watched them hurry away down the road and dart into the trees as soon they provided enough cover. A cowardly bully, picking on the weak. The short sword slid back into its sheath. Even he was better than that…if marginally.
The little yellow fairy fluttered forwards as Shadow turned back around. A broad look of awe was on his tiny face. "Wow! That was amazing!" He said, practically vibrating in midair. "You're really strong!"
Shadow nodded, though with little enthusiasm. It was sort of weird to be happily praised by a small, smiley version of himself. That, and he had heard this kind of exchange before. Flatter, then ask for more help. That was great, o brave swordsman! Could you do it again, but over there, with something else, maybe in a deadly temple of some kind?
"Please, um-… Uh, what's your name?"
"Shadow."
"Shadow? Okay. Are you busy?" The yellow fairy asked hopefully. "Because, I… I need help. Please? With something kinda big?"
BINGO! He wasn't saying exactly what it would be, either, so that meant it would most likely be difficult and/or unpleasant. Great.
Outwardly, Shadow showed no emotion. "With what?"
"Er, well- See…" Yellow took a deep breath and plunged in, speaking very fast. "It's been days since I've seen my brothers, which, uh, sometimes that's normal! But, but then that guy tried to kidnap me! I-I think they got taken too! I'm really worried about them-!"
Alright, enough. That actually sounded important…
"So, um, I was hoping-"
"You're too small to do something yourself," Shadow cut him off, "so you were hoping I would help you find them."
"Uh- Yes! Exactly!" The fairy stared in amazement. "Can you read minds?"
Shadow didn't roll his eyes, but only because there was no real point in doing so. "No," he said evenly. "You're just predictable."
"You don't have to call me words I don't know…-" Yellow shook his head. "Nevermind, just, will you help me?" He clasped his teeny tiny hands together, expression and pose both begging. "Please?"
Shadow grimaced. He pretty much had to do it, didn't he? Teeny tiny tears started to well up in teeny tiny yellow eyes. Damn pitiful little fairy was showing him no mercy.
"Fine," he said. "I'll help you. I'm not busy."
Yellow sighed with relief, smiling. "A-Ah, thank you! Thank you. Gosh, I didn't know what I was going to do. I'm glad I ran into you!"
That made one of them… He could look on the way, at least. As soon as he finished this, he could return to searching by himself. Shadow asked, "Where did Mask come from?"
"Huh? Oh, uh…" Yellow thought for a moment. "I don't know… They showed up out of nowhere. I was alone, and they cornered me."
"Did they do or say anything that might point to where they came from, or what they wanted?"
Yellow shook his head. "No… They never said anything. I mean…" He cocked his head, expression trying to concentrate. "I thought they were trying to kidnap me, but I guess it might not be that?"
No idea at all, then. That was annoying. A reasonable thing for him not to know, but still. Annoying. "Then nevermind that." Shadow shook his head. "How many brothers do you have, and how suddenly did they disappear?"
"Oh," Yellow said, "I have five older brothers. And…now that I think about it, they didn't all leave at the same time. It was more one by one. "
Five tiny fairies taken by who knows who and hidden who knows where. Shadow inhaled sharply, and let it out as a long sigh. The tiny, desperate hope that this might turn out to be straightforward was dying a painful death. "Do you know anything useful?" He asked, not quite hiding his frustration. "Any piece of information that would narrow my job down from searching under every rock in Hyrule?"
"I'm-... I'm trying." Yellow said, sounding a little hurt. "This has been stressful. Um…"
He stopped to think. Watching him think was like seeing a music box wind itself up before playing. Very, very slowly.
"Oh!" Yellow clapped his hands together, metaphorically lighting up. Metaphorically, because he was already literally a ball of light. "Right! I can sense other fairies! If we're near my brothers, I'll know! I can point you the right way!"
Oh, thank Hylia. Shadow relaxed a little bit. There was still most likely going to be a lot of traveling, but not impossible. "That helps. Which way from here?"
Yellow looked sheepish. "Uh…" A nervous laugh. "I was going to ask you that."
"I-" Today was not a good day for patience. "You just said you could point me the right way."
"Well, yes, but-..." Yellow stammered at the icy stare. "I-I'm not sensing anyone now! Um, anywhere but towards the forest?" He seemed to lose some of his cheer, and spoke more quietly. "They're not there. I know that for sure."
"Hm." Shadow thought for a moment. Grasping at straws was one of his many unwanted hobbies. The sad thing was, it worked half the time. "If Mask was chasing you in this direction..." He said this slowly, thinking. "...we should try northeast first. Perhaps they meant to drive you towards somewhere specific."
"Oh, I didn't even think of that!" Yellow cheered up a little. "Good idea."
The standards for what made a good idea seemed to be pretty low around here. Shadow nodded anyway. He turned around, scanned the area for a northeastern road, and then took the first step towards a very long quest.
"Oh-" Yellow started after him. "Wait for me!"
From there, Shadow was lucky for once, and got to walk in silence. Well… Almost. The fairy started humming. Something weird and tuneless that sounded like he was making it up as we went along. It was at least quiet enough to be tolerable, and still let him think.
He hadn't been in this direction before. There could be another town that way, but it would be best to plan as though there wasn't one. It was the afternoon, so at this speed he'd only be able to go so far before needing to camp somewhere, probably in the plains…
Shadow walked for about half a mile in this vein, working things out, the fairy humming and trailing sparkles through the air after him.
The fairy… He had been calling him Yellow in his head. The Chicken Lady and Mask both probably had actual names too, but ideally he wasn't ever going to see them again. This fairy, though, he was going to be stuck with for awhile. At the very, very least, he could call them by their actual name.
Shadow looked up. "You." The fairy innocently returned his glance. "What's your name?"
"Oh!" He smiled. "Right. My name's Yellow!"
Shadow blinked. For a second he thought he'd heard wrong. "You're serious."
"Er…" Yellow tilted his head, his smile wavering into confusion. "Yes? Why wouldn't I be?"
"Is this a nickname, or your actual damn name?"
"That's my actual d-... da- d-... My actual darn name! I glow yellow, I have yellow in my quills…" He shook his head, chuckling at how obviously silly the question was. "Really, what else would my name be?"
Something you wouldn't call a pet might be a good start. Who the hell named fairies, and how much did they hate this particular one? "Names," Shadow said, "are not meant to be the first word that pops into your head when looking at someone."
"So…" The fairy looked at him in wonder. "You looked at me and thought 'Yellow'?"
"…Yes?"
"So you can read minds!"
"No I can't."
"Ooh!" He put his hands up to his teeny tiny temples. "What am I thinking now?"
"I don't know," said Shadow, no longer even looking at him. "We have a long ways to go."
"Oh, right. Yes. That's true." Yellow nodded sagely. "Don't worry, Shadow. I know a good way to pass the time. I learned it from one of my older brothers!"
He inhaled, and started to sing.
"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beeeer!" His poor pitch wobbled like whacked gelatin. "You take one down, and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall!"
Shadow groaned. If only he had just kept his mouth shut.
"98 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer…"